


Slow recovery

by Mad_Merry



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-02
Updated: 2015-09-02
Packaged: 2018-04-18 15:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4710377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Merry/pseuds/Mad_Merry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chris was not totally alright after the fateful night on the mountains, hell none of them were. Though it helps to have someone with similar guilts, similar regrets to get through hard trauma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slow recovery

**Author's Note:**

> I know I know not an update you were looking for but, it's for a friend and I so give it a shot yeah? :)

A year goes fast, and you never realize it until you look at a particular date and you think--’holy shit, it’s been a _year_.’ Especially when a date already soured with tragedy rears its ugly head, reminding you of more pain and blurry fear heightened memories. It's hard to pretend things are normal when you lost 3 friends in one night.

It had been Sam’s idea, a last ditch attempt at giving the anniversary of so much pain a silver lining. A way to ease everyone’s tension and reunite and try to have some fun. At least...those who were left. 

Cabins had been immediately out of the question, everyone giving suggestions to comfortable resorts and even coming to someone’s house who had the most room, late night skype calls falling into silent internet searches with the occasional offer or food break. Finally everyone agreed that maybe a hotel with a pool and close to a few restaurants was a good idea. Something simple but relaxing, deep in a populated area too. “I had enough isolated areas.” Emily had quipped in the one call she had joined in, and though her attitude was never Chris’ favorite he had to agree she had a point.

He never wanted to see a deep forest again.

And he didn't, the hotel Emily had graciously booked as they all chipped in being deep in the heart of City life, where tourists went to explore new places and make memories.

Hell he didn’t see a single tree the entire trip, then again a good chunk of it is a blur. The hotel was fairly nice, not totally luxurious, but nice enough for young adults that had every intention to just get hammered the first night of arrival to crash after. And that’s exactly what they did, letting Emily show them all the good spots because she ‘knows where the action is,’ sending them all on a walk for a place that made good drinks and good food. Sam of course, became a designated advice giver, making sure everyone who wasn’t sober at least stayed rational and kept everyone out of trouble. Which was good, because the rest of them (besides Ashley, she was never a drinker anyway) let themselves drown in heavy liquor until the lights in the club blurred together in a messy haze. 

Mike, oddly enough stuck with Chris the entire time. Which was fair, considering Emily wanted neither of them to kill the crowd of rather beautiful people she was collecting. Chris was the only other one aiming to drown covered sorrows in alcohol, the two making fools of themselves on the dance floor as Sam and Ashley laughed from the sidelines. It was fun, Mike--no matter how composed and cocky he seemed to make himself played along with all of Chris’ terrible dance moves. Perhaps in a better state of sobriety, the blond would had noticed the skim of hands on his lower back. But he didn’t. He jumped and spun and did dead disco moves. And it was fun. 

The night was turning out better than he thought. It calmed down however, when all three of the girls turned down a late night swim when the oldest offered. 

“You boys go ahead, I’d rather get some sleep.” Sam had admitted, crossing her arms and smiling towards them.

“Yeah, me too. We’ll take a dip tomorrow.” Emily hadn’t said a word, Ashley acting as her support as she struggled to stay in the heels she insisted on wearing to the bar. So the girls left, Chris glancing over at a playful nudge to his ribs.

“Looks like it’s you and me then man.”

That turned out to be a terrible idea. Without the rest around, the two took it as a time to be complete and utter children, it starting with Mike casually pushing Chris into the water with a short shove. That had the nerdier of the group snatch the olders leg and yank him into the chilled water, the two laughing and splashing without a care. They were the only two in the pool, the late night isolation making their voices echo as they roughhoused, laughing until they were breathless and soaked to the bone.

It fell into comfortable silence after one last round of terrible marco polo, the two sitting at the edge of the pool and letting their feet soak in the water.

“I’m glad I came. I was thinking about backing out.” Chris admits after a content sigh, glasses long left on a table to be kept from anymore water. Mike hums in return, leaning back on his hands in a thoughtful manner.

“Yeah, me too honestly. Kinda hard to get time off anyway. Plus it...” His tongue flicks out to go across his lip, struggling for the right definition of his hesitance. “It feels kinda--”

“Wrong?” The blond offers, looking up from watching the tiny ripples his swaying feet made.

“Yeah.” The other forces out, pulling his feet from the water to cross his legs instead with a long puff of breath.

“Tonight’s been fun and it’s great seeing you guys. But it’s hard to let that night go. The things we saw, things we did. You can’t just shrug that off.” He had a point. Chris had done something--no matter the fact it was faked--and it still haunted him. But the rest of it wasn’t. The fear, the betrayal and the actual thought that death was going to find him that night. Sometimes it still kept him up. He studies Mikes’ profile, just now noticing the real resignation in his posture, light bags under his eyes and he realizes they were all suffering the same. Maybe--they needed to accept it first. 

“Listen man, I know you don’t like it being brought up but I really am sorry about Jessica.” Tired brown eyes land on him, genuine surprise and he realizes maybe no one said sorry to Mike. No one thought he’d be still be hurting over her, that he’d be guilty for her death. Chris was sure her parents most likely hated him for it all the same. 

“I--thanks. That actually means alot.” The smile is far from a usual Micheal Monroe grin, but it’s genuine and it makes something wriggle in Chris’ stomach as he tries to return it.

“And I’m sorry about the shit I said to...you know. I know you two were close.” 

“It’s fine, really. I did some stupid shit too.” Josh. That still ate at him so freshly it hurt, his friends lost eyes crying out for his help in those last moments he saw him conscious.  “I’d rather remember my best friend than the psycho that knocked me out, y’know? Josh--he was caught in a bad place. I wish I had done more.”  He knew Josh was having problems, he was one of the few that knew about his medications, that he trusted with his pain. He wished, he wished so badly he had pressed on the last Washington child that night will everything he had, to have him concede in him and save them all the terror. But he didn’t and he was gone. 

“I regret that prank, you know.” Mike murmurs, the two unaware of how they seemed to have leaned into each other, shoulders pressed together as they watched the water. “It was a dick move and I knew it. She didn’t deserve that. Neither of them did. Josh had every right to be pissed at us. We drove his sisters away.” Hannah wasn’t his sister anymore, though. She was a thing that had an appetite for flesh. She was a creature. A monster. If only Chris hadn’t passed out that night with Josh. Maybe...

“There’s too many what ifs in it, Mike. It--it happened, and now we gotta live with the outcomes.” 

“It still sucks.” Chris snorts, crossing his arms over his chest and fully embracing using Mike as a support. 

“More than sucks.” The other straightens, gaining a noise of objection from the blond as he moved from their freshly comfortable position. “We just need to be there for each other. That’s what drove last year.” They had crumbled when their friend needed them most. Mike chuckles, jostling the other a bit. 

“You know you’re real poetic when you need to be.” It earns another snort, shouldering a shove against the darker haired male. 

“Man shut up, I’m being serious.” When he looks up, his smile falters at the sheer softness in Mike’s gaze, and affectionate quirk of his mouth sending that odd wriggle in Chris’ stomach in over drive.

“I know.” The response is terribly soft, a fresh wave of tension riding over them as Chris starts getting  _ideas_. A temptation rising into his chest and fogging his brain--to which he’s going to blame on the alcohol still barely drifting through his blood stream. Mike seems to be having similar thoughts, dark brown eyes flickering downwards and Chris may not be a  _master_ at signals, but he knows where that look went. They shift, knees touching and shit Chris is suddenly hyper aware of Mike in an odd, physical sense that makes it hard not to focus on their proximity.

He’s never been really attracted to Mike. He was  _attractive_ , Chris wouldn’t lie. But he’d always been on the dick spectrum. A man who got what he wanted the easy way and lived life in leisure. Breaking hearts and mocking others.

Lately however, the two of them had bonded in an odd sense of mutual respect. A silent agreement of some sort that left them closer than before. Maybe because it was hard to reside in Sam anymore; though the stated mother of the group, she also tries to find solutions. And sometimes, there wasn’t a solution to the problems that festered in all of them. 

Said man’s sharp inhale stops Chris from leaning in anymore than he already had, heat crawling up his face in mortification that he’d been aiming to  _kiss_  Mike. When he tries to pull away, however a hand splays against his lower back and he remembers the club, the heat reddening his face as he bows his head.

“Ashley?” Mike murmurs after a moment, curiosity making the single name seem like a secret. Chris shakes his head, biting his lip  _hard._

“Not anymore. We--went our separate ways.” He thought it would be obvious; he and Ashley had broken up not long after the wendigo incident, a mutual agreement that maybe it had been a bad time to act on their feelings. They’d been so scared of death that they rushed everything, the passion of it all leaving them so suddenly it was a shock. Of course, neither had bad opinions at the other. 

Ashley understood that she wasn’t what he had needed at the time. The answer seems to make Mike relax, pressing his forehead to Chris’ as he takes another deep breath. It was a deeply intimate moment, urging himself to relax as the olders’ nose brushes with his.

“You’re not allowed to blame it on the booze in the morning.” He comments playfully before he grabs the back of Chris’ neck and pulls him into a kiss. Chris is stunned for a moment, still as what’s happening catches up with his mind. He’s kissing Mike, a guy he hardly took a second glance at. But it wasn’t--bad. Mike was warm, slightly damp from the water, moving slowly as if to give Chris time to decide if he really wanted this. 

Shit man he has really soft lips.

Chris had never kissed a guy, unless you count the few times he’d jokingly and drunkenly kissed Joshs’ cheek during their partying, the other laughing once upon a time and shoving his face away. He’d always had thoughts, considerations that he wasn’t as straight as he believed. Bi maybe? But he’d never acted on them. It wasn’t a mind blowing change; it was the same as kissing a girl besides the slight scratch of Mikes’ stubble and calloused hands moving from his neck to encase his jaw in a firm hold, keeping the kiss dry. Innocent, a gateway into more he supposed. 

There was no rush of sudden lusts, or the need to be in Mikes pants. But...he could see himself doing this more, kissing Mike was nice. The man in question pulls away for air, the same insecurities and knew thoughts resting in his eyes as they kept their gazes locked. They both manage a soft smile, Mike releasing him to put some fresh distance between them.

“That was--different.” 

“Bad different?” 

“No, no. Just, something to adjust to.” As if to make his point, the olders’ hand carefully rests on top of Chris’, cautious in his movements to make sure this wasn’t a drunk tumble that would be shrugged away in the morning. “Are you,” He coughs, looking away as if all his confidence had vanished. “Interested in...giving this a try?” It would be a change for both of them, that was for sure. Chris hesitates, lips parting as he focuses back on his most likely pruned feet.

“Slow. Like, crazy slow.” He laughs a bit nervously, relaxing at Mikes’ soft smile. “Because you know, we’re both still working past the mountains and--”

“I get it, Chris. And, yeah. I like slow.” He presses a kiss to Chris’ jaw, the blond turning his hand to clasp their fingers together and shifting to adjust. They were both still living in the past, guilt and regrets eating at what once made them innocent on the moral aspect of it. They were an unlikely pair, brought together by the worst reasons.

But--Chris smiles as Mike hoists him up, the two padding to their hotel room in the wee hours of the night--maybe they could work out.

Just have to take it slow.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS SEEMED LONGER WHEN I WAS WRITING IT MMMM


End file.
